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These Queer Poets Expand on Black Life Through Their Work
Editor’s note: For National Poetry Month, we’re featuring 37 up-and-coming black poets this week who we expect to do amazing work over the next decade. We grouped them by categories, though their works often blur boundaries and defy definitions. Monday’s theme was Black Regionalism, poets who look at black life and society through the prism…
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Langston’s Legacy: These Young Black Poets Rep Their Cultures to the Fullest
While in his early 20s and a student at Lincoln University, Langston Hughes published his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, and penned his landmark essay, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.” In it, he implored young black writers to express their “individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame.” For National Poetry Month,…
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On Earth Day, Our Fight for Environmental Justice and Against the Trump EPA’s Toxic Agenda Continues
The Trump administration and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler have failed African-American communities. Earth Day is the ideal time to renew our commitment to ensure everyone has equal access to clean air and safe environments regardless of which zip code they live in. It is also a time to remember our history is rooted…
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Maxine ‘Reclaiming My Time’ Waters Still Has No Time for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s Shit
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin apparently failed to learn anything the last time he went up against Auntie Maxine, aka U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) A reminder: Yeah, that was nearly two years ago (it seems like only yesterday!) when Mnuchin went before the House Financial Service Committee and tried to vamp his way through Auntie…
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Crenshaw and Slauson Intersection to be Named in Honor of Nipsey Hussle
Nipsey Hussle had nothing but love for his community of South Los Angeles, and now an intersection in the neighborhood will be named in honor of the slain rapper. Los Angeles City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson made the announcement on Tuesday that the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and West Slauson Avenue will now be known as…
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Watch: Trailer for Emanuel, the Viola Davis and Steph Curry-Produced Documentary About the Charleston, SC, Church Massacre
They died in a place that was supposed to be a sanctuary. On June 17, 2015, nine black worshippers at the historic Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., were murdered during Bible study by a white supremacist, Dylann Roof. Now, a new documentary tells the story of that tragic day through the eyes of the…
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On the Anniversary of MLK Jr.’s Assassination, We Should Heed King’s Economic Roadmap to Reparations
In a 1968 speech just prior to his death on April 4, Martin Luther King Jr. appeared to articulate the next phase of the fight for equality in America. It wasn’t focused on equal rights or the plight of African Americans in education in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education—it focused on black…
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Changing the Face of Cannabis Ownership: A 6-Point Plan for Black Equity in the Industry
Oakland, Calif., native Tucky Blunt was arrested 15 years ago for an $80 marijuana sale that ended up changing the trajectory of his life. He was slapped with 10-year felony probation, legally giving law enforcement officials the agency to search him at any time. Years later, the 39-year-old turned lemons into lemonade and is now…
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Black Women Deserve the Truth From Their Doctors. Trump Is Trying to Keep Us in the Dark
When I was 19 years old, I walked into a health center in Michigan knowing I was pregnant but uncertain of my future. To this day, I remember the compassion and grace of the nurse who helped me, who saw me scared and crying but calmly let me know that I had options. I could…
